Music roll alarm clock



May 30, 1950 F. LOEFFLER MUSIC ROLL ALARM CLOCK Filed May 12, 1948 5Shee'ts-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY RITZ LOEFFLER A T TORNE).

May 30, 1950 F. LOEFFLER musxc ROLL ALARM CLOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMay 12, 1948 INVE NTOR.

FRITZ LOEFFLER BY Flea,

ATTORNEX May 30, 1950 F. LOEFFLER 2,509,871

MUSIC ROLL ALARM CLOCK Filed May 12, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.4. F1646.

I INVENTOR. U5 FRITZ LOEFFLER y 1950 F. LOEFFLER MUSIC ROLL ALARM CLOCK5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 12. 1948 FRITZ LOEFFLER ATTOR/VFX May 30,1950 F. LOEFFLER MUSIC ROLL ALARM CLOCK Filed May 12, 1948 5Sheets-Shea: 5

FIG]

INVENTOR. FRITZ LOEFF LER 4 T TORNEY.

Patented May 30, 1950 MUSIC ROLL ALARM ,-CLO(-1 K Fritz Loeffler, New,York, N."Y;; assignor to Lador, Inc., New York, N; Y., a corporation ofNew Application May1'12, 1948, SeriaLNo. 26,692.. 7

(Cl;- '58'-12) i 14 Claims.

This inyentiOn.,has to .do ,with improvements inucloclgmechanisms landmoreparticularly with clocks havinga music. rollas, an alarm.

Music rolls asv such are well known articles of commerce and havepreviously. been useduto ,a limited .extentin -comb ination withmechanical (spring). operated. alarm. clocks. Usually. in these.clo.cks.,there had .been separate and indew pendentdriving'means, e. g.springs, for the clock and the. music roll sothat two hand winding,operations had.to.be.performed. Another shortcome ingpf. these clocks.wasgthatgthe. operation of the music roll.,cou1d .not be-sufficientlywell .controlled...

Accordingto my invention .a single motordriving, means, ,e,-g. anelectric'motor, operates the clock mechanism as well as the music roll.The present,.i,de vicetherefore combines the advantag s. attendant...to..an. .e1ectric clock with those I. of .a. clockhaving amusierrollalarm.

Accordingto a feature of my. invention I providea snapacting devicewhich abruptly disengages themusic rollirom its driving-mechanism toinsure abrupt stopping .of the .roll.. In. this way it is possibleaccurately .to .controlithe operation of.,the,.music rollforapredetermined periodof time..

According to another feature of myinvention,

I providea secondmore penetrating alarm, like a bell, which may beselectivelyconnectedito oper:v

ateaftenthe music ,.roll has been stopped.

Still another feature, of. my invention is that I provide a.combinationhour. hand-and alarm marker ontheface ofthe clock. Usuallyaseparatejindicatoris necessary tov mark the timeat which it is desiredfor'the alarmtooperate. I'

providein addition to thecustomary. fixed hour dial, an,.adjustable,alarm dial rotating with the hour gear. The alarm time. issetby rotating the.

adjustable dial into alignment with a marker provided on the hour hand.

For a more complete understanding of my invention.referencehshouldjbehad to the following.

showing-the operation of the cam followers and the release levermechanism;

Fig; is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig; 6;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the clock with the;

front--housing, dials and front plate-removed;

7 is a front View of the assembledcloek;

Fig: B'is a cross section .on the. line. 88. of Figi'l'; and.

Fig.9 is a. plan-view .of thespaeer separating the frontiplate andclockdial.

The clock mechanism or. ;works,- resting-on .-a base}! Fig';-..1) may beinserted asa unit intoyan Openin in: the :bottom .;ofan outside housingI 0: A leafspringzllisecuredltoszpostv IZby screw ,l3 presses. against;the back .side of housing. It and prevents ratt1ing-of the-unit. Acrystal I4 is held in place. by bezel l5 against-the edges'of anothersuitable 'opening in-'- the side; of the housing;

Theclock mechanismds'driven by a-constant speed elect'ricmotor l6;preferablyqotthe alternating current synchronous type which is securedby screwslnot. shown) to back platel S. The,ope at on o the. me hanism ao t b d s rib d is used to reduce the normal speed of 'themotor to ratet e seco stm nu es andh u i ar the clock;,

Thernotor shaitinotshown) of motor lficar ries ap nion.23 -W i hien sesashaftlg ar. 24 m u tedw th a pini n 2.5..ona s ft nion 25"drives a shaftgear, 21 'mountedwith a pinion ve a shaft, eeer.. 33.;mq n ed witna p non. 3

onic t nsnaft 35; j A sw pin second hand. .3

is mounted onthe outer end of. shaft '35. Pinion 34drives a gear. 38 mount e d on a pinion shaftltg. A- pinion 39" (Fig; 2) forming part ofshaft39.;en1 agesa gear .4 i which. .is frictionally. h ld.v by. a

hrine washer .4 Lit a minu e hu 4.2.;and. am ion.

43"pressed on hub 42. Minute hub 4l2 ,carriesat. its Outenendaminutehands i. Pinion stengages a gear, 45 mounted .ona pinion. it whichturns loosely on pinionshaftutlii Aocollar. 41

positions piniondfionpinionshaftlfis so that it ves a s arrflimounted.adja n a e d.- of hour hand hub jfl'. JI-Iub. 49" carries at its outerend an hour hand 59.; An alarm gearjl (Fig. 3)"isymounted"on' alarm hub52; 3 Alarm cam 53 loosely-mounted on 1 11 01918 coupled to alarm gear5|"..by D0sts ,54." On the outer end of. alarm hub 52- arr-adjustablealarm dial 5a is mounted so gthat it will rotate-withflthe hub 52' butmay.be. A spring washer.

'With theaid of Figs. 4-40 the operation ofthedevice controlling theengagementofthe' music Spring 55' alarm to the rest of the clockmechanism will be explained. A release lever 62 positioned between alarmgear 5! and alarm cam 53 is pivota1ly mounted On a shaft 63. A coiledspring 64, one end of which is fastened to one of posts 54, tends tohold lever 62 in inactive position (Fig. 4) pressing the levers end 65against flange 56. Alarm cam 53 has a cut out portion whose edges 66, 61are substantially perpendicular to one another. Release lever 62 has aradial edge 68 which is slightly displaced with respect to edge 66 ofcam 53 and a circular edge 69 in line with the contour of cammed surfaceso as substantially to cover edge 61 of the cut out when the releaselever is in inoperative position.

A locking and follower lever I9 is mounted on a hub II (Fig. 3) on ashaft I2 which'is rotatably mounted in front and back plates I9, I6. Onone end of lever ill a cam follower 6| is mounted and projects from thelever so as to slide alon the cammed surface of cam 53. A spring 73, oneend of which i attached to a post id and the other end to arm of lever19, exerts pressure to move cam follower 6| towards alarm cam 53. Theother end of lever 10, best shown in Fig. 5, carries a bushing I6 with ashort shaft H. A gear I8 with a hub I8 is rotatably mounted on shaft l1and is engaged by a gear l9. Gear '59 is mounted on a hub 66 along witha gear 59 which is driven by gear 39 (Fig. 3).

As cam 53 is rotated in clockwise direction, lever 19 will forcefollower 6| down edge 66 of the cut out portion to the position shown inFig. 4a, whereupon gear 178 at the other end of lever i9 is swungdownwards into engagement with a gear 89 which is connected to a musicroll M (Fig. 1) and rotates the latter. The musical sound is producedwhen comb 82 (Fig. 6) is engaged by pins (not shown) projecting from themusic roll.

As cam 53 continues to rotate, cam follower 6| rides along edge 61 andengages radial edge 68 of release lever 62 to rotate it about shaft 63against the pressure of spring 65. When the release lever has beenturned to a point greater. than the friction angle between it and thecam follow-er, spring 64 will suddenly snap the release cam 62 back toits inactive or normal position, causing edge 68 to slide past camfollower 6!.

The normal position of release lever 62 is with its end 65 contactingflange 56. The operation of lever 62 depends on the relative tension ofsprings 65 and I3. Springs 13 is more resilient than sprin 6t so thatthe pressure of spring 13 will be overcome and gear 18 moved out ofcontact with gear 89.

Cam follower 6| rides along curved edge 69 of release cam 62 and thecammed surface of 53. When cam follower 6| is lifted out of the cut outportion of cam 53, lever I0 is suddenly swung up so that gear 18abruptly breaks with music roll gear 89, thus stopping the playing ofthe music.

As distinguished from the usual gradual disengagement between an alarmand its driving source, I break the connection between music roll gear69 and gear 18 by means of release lever 62 so fast that music roll 8|comes to a stop almost instantaneously upon the operation of lever 62.The importance of the abrupt disengagement is that the music roll isstopped dead and not gradually. In this connection I have found that incertain cases where the music roll has a great deal of inertia theapplication of a suitable brake to the roll will prevent any unwantedmovements therein.

Fig. 4c shows cam follower 6| just after it has been lifted out of thecut out and as alarm cam 59 continues to rotate, the follower slidesaround cam 53 until it can once again enter the cut out portion, e. g.12 hours later.

A second and more penetrating alarm, such as a bell 95, (Fig. 1) ismounted on post I2 by spacer and plate 86. The alarm is sounded by meansof an arm 81 which is movably mounted on a cross piece 88 held on pivots89 between back plate I8 and front plate I9. Arm 8'! is under tensionfrom a spring 96 (Fig. 6) fastened to a post 9I. At the other end of arm81 an elbow 94 projects, on one end of which a striker or hammer 95 isprovided and from the other end a cam follower 96 projects, A lug 9!projects from arm 91 between hammer 95 and cam follower 96. Cam follower96 rides around alarm cam 53 close to cam follower 6|. The distancebetween the two cam followers is such that follower 96 can slide pastedge 66 of the alarm cam only after follower 6| has been lifted into itsinoperative position by the operation of release lever 62. Thus themusic alarm must have sounded and stopped before the bell alarm canoperate.

'The bell alarm operates in the following manner: After follower 96 hasdropped into the cut out portion of alarm cam 53, a projection I00 ofcrosspiece 88 which is connected to spring is moved into engagement withthe teeth of a star wheel IIlI which rotates with shaft 26. Thealternate lifting of arm 8'! by the star wheel and retraction by spring96 causes hammer to strike bell 85 and produce the conventional ringingalarm. As alarm cam 53 continues its rotation, cam follower 96 rides upedge 67 of the cam and the stroke of arm 81 is gradually diminisheduntil follower 96 again reaches the periphery of cam 53, whereuponprojection I09 is disengaged from star wheel II]! by the outwardmovement of arm 81. The bell alarm ceases ringing and will not beoperated until the alarm cam 53 makes another complete rotation, i. e.after 12 hours have elapsed.

The operation or non-operation of the alarms is controlled by a shaft I64 (Fig. 6) which extends rearwardly through the housing of the clockand on which a disc I95 having a pin I06 projecting therethrough ispressed. A lever I01 is rotatably mounted on hub II and has one endcontacting pin I96 on one side of disc I95. Lever arm I5 may contact pinI06 on the other side of disc E65. The other end I96 of lever I9! isadapted to contact projection 91 of arm 91. A spring H9 anchored to post"I4 tends to hold lever IElI against pin E66.

Depending on how pin I66 is set (by turning shaft E66) the music alarmwill operate (position M), the music alarm and then the bell willoperate (position M+B) or both alarms will be silent (position S).

In position M, the bell alarm cannot operate because lever Hill is heldby spring I I 0 against pin I66 so that upper end I66 of lever i0! restsagainst lug 91 and prevents cam follower 96 from sliding down edge 66 ofalarm cam 53. However, lever arm 'l5 is free of the pin and since lever19 can still move the music alarm will operate.

If pin I66 is turned counterclockwise to position M-l-B, both the musicand bell alarms will operate because lever I61 is rotated about hub IIand is pressed by spring H9 against pin I96 so as to raise end I 98, asindicated in dotted lines Fig. 6, out of engagement with projection 91:Cam follower ;9.may then drop past edge 66 andoperate-the bell alarmasabove described. Since;the movem ent of lever IE! is not influenced. bythis1position of:pin =I06-,-the music alarm will operate asbefore;

If pin I08'is vmoved clockwise to the position S neitheralarm-Willoperate because end i013 of lever, IU'If holds. out the bellalarm as above described. Pin I fitalso engages leverarm- 75preventing,-lever;;l from rotating and cam follower 6I-- entering thecut out. The'music alarm:is therebyzheld out. A fiat-springQB (Fig. 6)suitablyfastened to :front; plate I9 may conveniently be: arranged tohave a nub in one end register with .notches indisc I which correspondto positionsM, MrliB, S. Thedisc is thereby kept fromrotating againstthepressure of springs I3 andiIiI0.;

Thesetting of the alarmsis controlled by a shaft-H4. (Fig. l) whichextends through the rear of1the';..housing. At the' front end of shaftIE4 a gear.-. I i5 is mounted; and meshes witna. gear.IIfizrotatably-mounted'on a stud HT. Gear H6 engagesgear 5I.whichcontrols the rotation of alarm camz53 and alarm dial 58. By overcomingthefriction of .spring'55i against the parts mount ed on hubs 49 and52?,2-ithe alarm. dial can be rotated, and aligned with. inner pointerH9 of hour-whand 50 "(Fig. 7). The novel constructionof hour hand-50fenables it to serve a dual purposetoxindicate. the .hour of the day asWell as the time towhich the alarm is set. Hand. 58 is formedintermediate its ends into a ring H8. Within this ring small pointer II9 may be aligned with suitable numbers on the adjustable alarm dial.Outer pointer I29 indicates the hours of the day in the usual manner.

The hands of the clock are set by rotation of a shaft I22 (Fig. 2) whichextends through the rear ofthe-housing. When a gear 523 pressed on-shaftI22=is rotated the friction'between gear and-pinion 43 created-by springwasher M is overcome and the hands moved.-

The musicroll 8 I is supported in a frame I24 by screws I25 (Fig. 1). Alocating screw 125 10- cates gear with respect to gear l8. Frame 524 isfastened to front plate I9 by screws I30.

Referring to Fig. 8, a spacer I26 separates front plate I9 from clockdial I2'I. A circular opening is provided in clock dial E2! in whichalarm dial 58 is placed. The alarm dial is practically flush with clockdial I21. The clock dial is positioned on extensions I29 of post I1 andthe distance from posts [1 to center shaft is accurately measured. Sincethe clock dial will be rigidly held it is possible to have only a smallclearance between the two dials. The face of the clock has a neat andcompact appearance.

Since shafts 26 and 29 are the most directly coupled to the motor shaftthey rotate at relatively high speeds and should be lubricated and forthat purpose I provide holes I3I and I32 in spacer I26 (Fig. 9). Whenclock dial I2'I is in place, two chambers defined by holes 3i and I32are provided between the dial and front plate I9 into which lubricatingmeans, such as a wick, may be placed continuously to lubricate theshafts. A clearance hole I33 may also be provided in spacer I26 topermit pivots 89 to project from front plate I9.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of my invention it will be clearto those skilled in the art that various modifications may be madethereon and that certain features thereof may be used separately or inother combination Without departing from the scope: of ,my' inventionaas.set-

music-roll, anda singledriving means connected with the clock mechanismfor driving it and connectable to drive the music roll, coupling meansfor operatively connecting the music roll to said driving means, andmeans operableat predetermined times by the clock mechanism foractuatingthe couplin means.

2. Aclock comprising a clock mechanism, music roll, a single driving.means for driving both' the clock mechanism and the music roll, meansfor operatively, connecting the. music roll with said drivingmeans andmeansincluding a spring and lever means for. controllingthe con nectionbetween saiddriving means andv roll.

3. In. combination with a clock mechanism, a constant speed motor fordriving said mechanism,..a music roll alarnrmeans foroperativelyconnecting the music roll with said motor, and

lever means for abruptlyv making and breaking the connection between themotor and music roll.

4. The device according to claim- 3,.a secondalarm and means foroperatively connecting said second alarm with said motor.

5. The device accordingto claim 4, and means for connecting said secondalarm after-the breaks ing of the connection with the music roll.

6. In an alarm clock. housing, clock works, an alternating current.motor for driving said; works, a music roll, means for operativelyconnecting said roll to the motor, va camhaving a follower.

controlling the operativeconnection of the motor to-the music roll,. anda spring operated release lever for. movingthe cam follower With respectto .the cam to disconnect abruptly the motor from themusic roll.

'7. :The device accordingto claim 6, and means projecting throughsaid'housing for preparing the COIlllliOlzOf. themusic: roll by the camat preset times. .a

8. The device according to claim '6, a bell alarm, an armextendingfrombell alarm, means for connecting said arm to the motor, a second camfollower for controlling the operative connection of said arm to themotor, said second follower being displaced with respect to said firstfollower so that the music roll will operate before the bell.

,9. The device according to claim 6, and means for resiliently mountingwithin the housing said clock works, motor, cam, cam follower and leveras a unit.

10. In an alarm clock, an alternating current motor for driving theclock, a cam rotated by said motor, a music roll, means for connectingthe music roll to the motor, a first cam follower for controlling thesaid last-mentioned means, a bell, a hammer for striking said bell, asecond cam follower for controlling the operation of the hammer tostrike the bell, a snap acting release lever rotatably mounted on saidcam and engaged at one end by said first cam follower, and a springfastened to the other end of the lever whereby the lever will abruptlybreak the connection between said first follower and the cam.

11. In an alarm clock, an alternating current motor for driving theclock mechanism, a cam having a cut out portion and rotated by themotor, a first cam follower contacting said cam, a music roll connectedto said follower operable upon the follower moving into said out outportion, a second cam follower contacting said cam, a bell alarmconnected to said second follower and operable upon the follower movinginto the cut out portion of the cam, a release lever having a normalposition mounted on said cam adjacent its out out and contacting saidfirst follower upon its entering the cut out, and means for quicklyreturning said lever to normal position thereby moving said firstfollower out of the cut out and stopping the operation of the music rollalarm.

12. In an alarm clock, an alternating current motor for driving theclock mechanism, an hour hand, a gear for rotating said hour hand, a camhaving a cut out portion and connected to said gear, a first camfollower contacting said cam, a music roll connected to said followeroperable upon the follower moving into said out out portion, a secondcam follower contacting said cam at a point behind said first followerwith respect to the direction of rotation of the cam, a bell, a strikerconnected to said second follower and operable upon the second followermoving into the cut out portion of the cam to strike the bell, a snapacting release lever having a normal position mounted on said camadjacent the cut out but displaced with respect to the cut out so thatsaid followers may enter it, a spring fastened to one end of the leverfor quickly returning said lever to normal position thereby moving thefirst follower out of the cut out and stopping the operation of themusic roll, and means for alternatively connecting the music roll, themusic roll and bell striker or disconnecting the music roll and bellstriker to the clock mechanism.

13. In an alarm clock, an alternating current motor for driving theclock mechanism, a stationary clock dial having a central opening, anadjustable alarm dial situated in said opening and in substantially thesame plane as the clock dial, an hour hand, a gear for rotating saidhour hand, a cam having a cut out portion and connected to said gear, afirst cam follower contacting said cam, a music roll connected to saidfollower operable upon the follower moving into said out out portion, asecond cam follower contacting said cam at a point behind said firstfollower with respect to the direction of rotation of the cam,

a bell, a striker connected to said second follower and operable uponsaid second follower moving into the cut out portion of the cam tostrike the bell, a snap acting release lever having a normal positionmounted on said cam adjacent the cut out but displaced with respect tothe cut out so that said followers may enter it, said lever having asurface for contacting said first follower, a spring fastened to one endof the lever for quickly returning the lever to normal position therebymoving said first follower out of the cut out and stopping the operationof the music roll, a disc having a pin projecting therefrom movable intothree positions, in the first of said positions the music roll and bellstriker being both disconnected from the clock mechanism, in the secondposition only the music roll being connected, and in the third positionthe music roll and bell striker being both connected, a projection fromthe first cam follower contacting the pin only in said first positionwhereby said first follower is held free of the music roll, and a secondlever positioned so that one end engages the second cam follower and theother end said pin in said first and second positions of the pin wherebysaid second follower may be held from entering said out out to preventoperation of the bell alarm.

14. The device according to claim 13, and in Which said hour hand isformed into a ring intermediate its ends, and has a pointer within saidring for alignment with said alarm dial.

FRITZ LOEFFLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 433,220 Sprangers July 29, 1890529,835 Porter Nov, 27, 1894 767,605 Stange Aug. 16, 1904 1,767,183 LuxJune 24, 1930 2,044,543 Putnam June 16, 1936

